The news of the armistice was greeted with relief and joy in Britain. The country, however, was in a fragile condition. The pre-war certainties had been shaken by the conflict. The dwindling electoral prospects of the Liberal Party, the Easter Rising, the rise of Sinn Fein, the abandonment of the gold standard in 1919, industrial unrest, rising unemployment, various strikes, and uprisings in Eastern Europe all contributed to a degree of uncertainty. Like other countries, it was also in the middle of an influenza pandemic. Jose Harris has suggested that an observer looking at the state of Britain in 1919 would have perhaps predicted a prolonged period of class war. For the churches, the post-war period was a time of theological tensions. The end of the war did not bring about calm in national and religious life.

It was within this atmosphere that the Sunday schools operated. Throughout the conflict, they had been waiting to resume their work without restrictions and for their members to return. The day had finally come. This feeling of elation, however, was tempered by a profound sense of loss. Some of the scholars and teachers from schools had made the supreme sacrifice. Efforts turned towards commemorating those who had fallen and supporting those who had been affected by the war. This chapter will examine how the schools responded in the years following the pivotal moment of the end of the First World War. It will also consider whether the records of the schools support the prevalent conclusion that the First World War caused religious decline in Britain.

Thanksgiving, Remembrance, and Memorialisation

With the realisation that the war was finally over there was great excitement within the Sunday school movement. The moment they had so desperately prayed and hoped for had finally come. Their scholars and fellow teachers would soon be returning home. Before the war ended, The Young Crescent had remarked that ‘a visit to a recent evening service gave one a taste of the good days to come. […] A flying visit from AC Walter Ridpath completed our surprises for the month, & what is more gave us a good vision of our reunion in the future’. This vision started to slowly turn into a reality.

In 1915, the Sunday School Chronicle printed the following remark made by Sir George Smith at the Wesleyan Methodist Conference: ‘the Sunday School teachers are the great unpaid branch of the civil service of the country. They are of vital importance to the country. They are of vital importance to the State. The greatness of the British race depends upon a vigorous Sunday School life’. This quotation very much demonstrates the high regard in which Sunday schools were held in British religious and social life. British Sunday schools were a significant tool of religious socialisation and education throughout much of the twentieth century. Those who lived through the First World War had their early religious experiences and education at the schools.

While the schools are not attended as widely today, their importance should not be underestimated. The influence of the schools lives on through those who passed through them in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. Popular celebrities of today, such as Ewan McGregor, Melvyn Bragg, Richard Wilson, and Anthea Turner, attended Sunday school at some point during their childhood. To understand the influence of Christianity in Britain requires a better understanding of the history of the Sunday schools. This was the institution where many were exposed to Christian faith, hymnody, and imagery.

However, despite the important role Sunday schools have played in the religious and social life of the British nation, there has been relatively little research that takes their history beyond the outbreak of the First World War. Studies that have briefly mentioned schools after the war rarely consider them in their own right. For instance, the research of Callum Brown, Hugh McLeod, and Sarah Williams produced excellent studies, but they are focused mainly on the lives of adults and the churches. Additionally, the little attention the schools have received has been rather critical. Historians such as Jeffrey Cox and Alan Wilkinson have suggested that they were ineffective tools of religious education. Wilkinson even argued that they did not prepare their scholars for the fighting front. Likewise, the experience of Sunday schools during the interwar years has received little scholarly attention.

Therefore, given the limitations of, and existing debates in, the historiography, this book has addressed the significance of British Sunday schools through its six chapters.

The period from 1900 to 1914 was one of change and tension for British Sunday schools. There was a feeling of unease among the churches. As Hugh McLeod suggested, ‘signs of impending crisis had been building for many years. But until recently they had often been mixed with other more hopeful signs. In the years immediately before the First World War, however, it seemed that all the religious indices were pointing in the same downward direction’.

Milestones in social policy such as the Education Act (1902), the Children and Young Persons Act (1908), the Old Age Pension Act (1908), and the National Insurance Act (1911) were part of the foundation of the welfare state. Gradually the state supplied what had traditionally been provided by the churches and their various agencies. The passing of these Acts caused some Nonconformists and schools to feel uncertain about the role they would play in society.

There was a boom in commercial leisure during this time, which was brought about by increasing living standards and decreasing work hours. It was felt by some in the churches that Sundays were a shadow of their former selves. Under these changing and challenging circumstances the schools sought to adapt to these conditions in order to provide the religious training they felt their members required. As we will see during this chapter, despite the changing role of the churches within society, Sunday schools were highly regarded by important local and national figures. They were still a prominent institution in British society, were celebrated in local life, and were even used in plot lines in popular works of literature.

Nevertheless, the history and experiences of the schools during this period are largely under-researched by historians. As discussed in the Introduction, historians of religion have largely taken the opinions of churchmen at face value. The thoughts and experiences of those who were directly involved in the work of the schools have not been considered. Therefore, this chapter will explore the experiences of those who worked at and attended the schools to assess fully the extent to which the image of the ill-organised, ill-disciplined, and inefficient Sunday school is true.

Sunday Schools and Society

Sunday schools were widely attended in the first half of the twentieth century. Thomas Laqueur estimated that there were approximately 5,952,431 children enrolled in schools in 1901, 6,178,827 in 1906, and 6,129,496 in 1911.

The late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries saw not only increasing levels of emigration but also an increasing popularity of foreign missions. Indeed, as one missionary, Dr W. Adeney, reflected:

This extract reflects the global connections and interactions of the British Sunday schools during the early twentieth century as well as the wider ecumenical missionary movement. As demonstrated in Chapter 3, those serving on the Western Front flocked to hear from missionaries in YMCA huts. In the early twentieth century, the British Sunday school movement interacted with the world in various ways. Scholars and teachers were internationally aware and connected not only through the lessons taught at the schools but also the interaction of the movement with global organisations.

These interactions, however, have been under-researched. Much of the recent literature concerning missions has tended to focus on the churches. While Knoff provides a useful overview of the World Sunday School Association (WSSA), his work largely focuses on American efforts within the organisation. Likewise, although Cliff's history of the Sunday school movement does examine some of the international work and interactions of the schools, they are very brief considerations. This chapter will explore the previously under-explored international connections and interactions of the British Sunday school movement during the period from 1900 to 1939.

International Awareness and Connections of the Sunday Schools

International awareness and connections within the British Sunday school movement were fostered by the emigration of many scholars and teachers. It is estimated that from 1900 to 1930, 5,638,000 Britons emigrated to the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Peter Wardley estimated that in the period 1900–14, 2,300,000 British citizens emigrated from Britain. He argued that ‘emigration from the UK was a characteristic and significant feature of the Edwardian period’.

In twenty-first-century Britain it is hard to envisage how Sunday schools, and even Christianity, played such a significant role in the social and religious life of the nation. In 2000 it was estimated that fewer than 10 per cent of children attended Sunday school. However, to understand the religious world of Britain in the twentieth century we must appreciate the role Sunday schools played within it. For instance, by 1914 it is estimated that there were over seven million Sunday school scholars. The cultural influence of the schools can even be felt to this day. Many English football clubs, such as Bolton Wanderers and Everton, originated from Sunday school football teams.

Moreover, in 2008 a BBC documentary entitled Sunday Schools: Reading, Writing and Redemption was broadcast. It detailed the history of British Sunday schools and interviewed former scholars about their experiences. Some of these interviewees included the politician Lord Roy Hattersley, the actress Dame Patricia Routledge, and the cartoonist Bill Tidy. Many of those interviewed recalled their happy memories while attending and expressed the positive influence their time at the schools had on the rest of their lives. Likewise, the presenter Huw Edwards lamented the decline of the schools as an institution, given the benefits he had received attending one as a child.

However, despite the influential role the schools played in the lives of much of the population, research about the schools that extends beyond the beginning of the First World War is rare. Considering the examples discussed above, this seems a large oversight in the historiography of British Christianity.

Sunday Schools in Scholarship

Scholarship has highlighted the importance of Sunday schools during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. First, statistics have revealed the central role that the Sunday schools played in the religious life of the nation. Clive Field's research estimated that there were 7,074,183 Protestant scholars in 1914. He claimed that nine-tenths of the population attended a Sunday school at some point during their lives. Similarly, Callum Brown contended that Sunday school attendance was almost obligatory.

Second, oral histories have further evidenced the importance of the schools in the lives of much of the population. Dorothy Entwistle suggested that the majority of those interviewed remembered attending a Sunday school during their childhood. Interviewees often recalled their Sunday school experience in a positive light.

The period 1900 to 1939 saw the Sunday schools reforming the way they taught scholars and trained teachers. They had been institutions which had provided a basic level of education to the masses. With the gradual intro-duction of compulsory schooling throughout this period, Sunday schools were freed from teaching children basic literacy skills. They did, however, face the challenge of keeping up with the standards of education offered by the day schools. Alongside these changes was an increased acceptance of childhood as a unique stage of human development. During the nineteenth century, childhood was romanticised by writers, artists, philosophers, and philanthro-pists. In 1909, the English edition of the Swedish writer Ellen Key's book entitled The Century of the Child was published. Key believed that the future of a nation would be shaped by the way children were treated by society. Likewise, an NSSU publication noted that its ministry was to ‘the men of to-morrow’. This reflected commonly held beliefs of the time. For instance, parliamentary reformers and philanthropists also believed in this vision of ‘the century of the Child’ and sought to protect this stage of human life. Similarly, according to Colin Heywood, the publication of G. Stanley Hall's Adolescence in 1904 helped to popularise this concept of human development. Children were increasingly seen as distinct from adults.

As a result of these developments, influential thinkers in the Sunday school movement started to introduce methods of teaching which embraced the latest educational and psychological developments. While the basic content of the curricula changed little, the way in which they were delivered did. In addition, there was increased importance placed on Sunday school teachers receiving some level of training. For some teachers the schools offered training opportunities for self-improvement. This chapter will explore these themes and will demonstrate that Sunday schools were far from stagnant. Throughout this period, they were constantly reflecting upon their work and attempted to reform accordingly.

Childhood Psychology – Its Influence on the Sunday School Movement

During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, children increasingly became a subject of study in both secular and church circles. As Hugh Cunningham has proposed, this was due to multiple factors, such as decreasing infant mortality rates and the rise of compulsory schooling. He suggested that, as a result of these changes, it became necessary to assess children's mental and physical abilities.

Sunday schools played an important role in forming and sustaining the faith of many men serving in the armed forces. The time the men had spent at the schools meant that many were familiar with Christian doctrine, theology, and hymnody to a greater or lesser extent. The schools also continued to support their former scholars on the fighting front through prayer, letters, magazines, and parcels. For many men, the support of their Sunday school was vital to their spiritual lives while away from home. However, the role of schools in the lives of these men has been largely underplayed by historians. This is perhaps influenced by the conclusions of the then contemporary literature which suggested that Sunday schools had little effect on those who passed through them. Those who wrote contemporary ‘reports’ such as The Church in the Furnace (1917) and The Army and Religion: An Enquiry and its Bearing upon the Religious Life of the Nation (1919) argued that Sunday schools failed to educate their scholars to a high enough standard. In this chapter, we examine these claims alongside previously underutilised archival material written by Sunday school teachers and their former scholars serving in the British forces. The chapter will go on to demonstrate the continuing and significant role Sunday schools played in the religious life of the British forces during the First World War. As this chapter will show, Sunday schools had a profound impact on the spiritual lives of the men; the lessons they had learnt at them brought comfort and assurance even in the most challenging circumstances.

Perceptions of Sunday Schools in ‘Reports’ Concerning the Army and Religion

Even before the First World War had ended, Sunday schools suffered some damning criticism. As already mentioned, the writers of The Church in the Furnace (1917) and The Army and Religion (1919) felt that the schools were ineffective. Those who wrote the essays and reports in these two books were convinced that Sunday schools had contributed to the poor religious state of the British Tommy. For example, a hut worker stated: ‘Our Sunday-schools are woeful – to anyone who knows anything of the difficulty of teaching, utterly woeful’. Likewise, another commentator suggested that among the men ‘ignorance and misconception do exist, many seem to know but do not realise nearly enough. […] This, doubtless, in part points to ineffective or inadequate Sunday or day school teaching’.

The First World War touched all aspects of life on the home front. Sunday schools were no exception. As the president of the NSSU remarked in September 1914:

His remarks highlight the great disruption, uncertainty, and loss the schools faced during the war. They lost buildings, resources, scholars, and teachers to the war effort. Yet, even with the upheaval of war, Sunday schools across the country strived to continue their work and minimise the disruption to their members.

Despite the significant role the schools played in the lives of much of the population, their wartime experience has been little explored. Scholarship concerning Christianity during the war has tended to concentrate on the key figures of the churches, rather than those in the pews. Given the role the laity played in sustaining morale in local communities throughout the conflict, this is a large oversight. As Chapter 1 demonstrated, Sunday schools were an important part of local community life before the outbreak of war. This continued throughout the conflict. For example, Robert Beaken demonstrated that in Colchester, Sunday schools helped to provide children and adults with a sense of ‘business as usual’. It is, therefore, surprising that the role of the Sunday schools during the war has not been considered in greater depth. This chapter seeks to examine the experiences of the schools during the conflict as well as the various ways in which they supported the war effort and those in their local communities.

The Response of Sunday Schools to the Outbreak of Conflict

Many Sunday schools strongly believed that their men were fighting in a righteous Christian conflict. Opinions in Sunday school magazines and material aimed at teachers supported Britain's involvement in the war. For example, one leading article for the Sunday School Chronicle concluded that ‘[…] this war which has been forced upon us is a holy war, and all its horrors and sufferings must be endured with calmness and courage in the hope of ending war for ever’.

Throughout much of the twentieth century Sunday schools were a significant force in the religious education and formation of British society, exposing countless children to the Bible, hymns, and Christian doctrine. A BBC poll conducted in 1955 found that 83 per cent of those respondents born before 1939 had been involved with a Sunday school or Bible class for several years. Only 6 per cent claimed that they had never attended a Sunday school lesson. Furthermore, these schools were predominantly attended by the working class. Given that the rank and file of the British armed forces largely came from this milieu, this meant that most of them would have attended Sunday school at some point in their childhood. However, despite the important role the schools played in the religious life of early twentieth-century Britain, there has been very little examination of their history and experiences during the Second World War. This chapter provides an overview of Sunday schools during the conflict, arguing that the history of the schools demonstrates the continuing strength of Christianity in British society.

The importance of Sunday schools during the Second World War

Sunday schools continued to play an important role in nurturing and shaping the faith of those who grew up in inter-war Britain. However, due to the dislocation and disruption caused by the war, compiling comprehensive attendance statistics became almost impossible. Clive Field estimated that in 1939 there were 3,743,386 scholars across the Protestant churches, while Currie, Gilbert and Horsley had earlier established that around two-thirds of all scholars attended Nonconformist Sunday schools. However, by 1945 Field estimates that the number of Sunday school scholars had fallen to just over three million. A Mass Observation file report from 1948 concerning church attendance found that four out of five respondents sent their children to Sunday school even though only one out of five attended church regularly. As Field suggested, ‘together with family and school, Sunday schools were thus an important instrument of religious socialization, leaving an inevitable legacy of residual Christian beliefs and values in the lives of former scholars throughout their adulthood.’

This legacy can be seen through a wealth of anecdotal evidence. For instance, the schools are frequently mentioned in oral history interviews. Those conducted by the Imperial War Museum involving those who lived during the Second World War include at least sixty-five which explicitly mention Sunday school attendance in their summary descriptions.